7631 SEQUOIA COURT, ORLAND PARK, IL

Year: 2015

TOURERS: Bryan, LAURA

COSTS: FREE

CHAINSAWS: 5/5

Here's a great newer yard display that joins some of the excellent ones in the Orland Area. It's called Scares on Sequoia, and if you happen to like 70's and 80's horror characters, then this one definitely has something for you.

Based, as many yard displays are, on a cemetery theme, the central portion of the haunt features and old, dilapidated wooden fence with a gate in the center that looks into the cemetery itself. The cemetery is filled with tombstones of various types, mostly with humorous names on them, as well as several life size figures.

Many of the figures that populated the cemetery last year have been moved to a new enclosure on the driveway. Although visitors are not actually able to walk through this enclosure, it does resemble a home haunt walkthrough, and features three distinct scenes, each separated by a wall. The first is a zombie theme, with various figures bathed in an eerie green light. The second features a witch theme, with a female figure hanging from a pole in the center. When visitors pass by her eyes light up and she shakes. Accompanying this figure is a creepy wall with bloody mirrors on it and a status whose eyes bleed when activated.

The final scene in the enclosure is a botcher shop theme, and hiding in the background is the first of the modern day classic horror character - Leatherface. He's a bit hard to spot, but he's definitely there. Overall, the enclosure is a nice creation that sets up environments for figures that formerly simply stood in the cemetery area. While the cemetery looks a bit more barren, it's nice to have some full scene setups to view as well.

But rest assured that that's not all at Scares on Sequoia. The display continues along the back of the front yard, near the front of the house. As with last year, the front of the house is blacked out with a large piece of cloth with "BEWARE!" spray painted on it. Not only does this hide the house, it also gives some eeriness and realism to the cemetery setup. Hiding along the tree line here, in front of a sign that reads Camp Crystal Lake, is a life size figure of Jason Voorhees, complete with machete. While we've seen Jason before, it's nice to see him among the trees, reminiscent of some of his Friday the 13th appearances.

Next to Jason is Freddy Krueger, in from of a sign soliciting body parts. He's cool, too, but the best figure in the display is hiding by the porch. On the porch is a giant reaper figure that speaks and moves, and along the porch walkway is a demon inside of an open coffin. Creepy, yes, but the real surprise is in the form of classic 80's horror movie icon Michael Myers, who is hidden behind a black drape to the right of the front door. He's hard to initially spot, especially if, as in our case, we were focused on the Reaper. Mike Myers appears along the edge of peoples' sight line, and it makes for an effective "gotcha!" moment. His silent, towering figure stares balefully out upon the entire proceedings.

MAP

Whereas last year Mike Myers was also somewhat hidden, being placed in the back hear the trees by the front of the house, this time he's even more effective. Again, we've seen this particular animatronic figure before, but it's really all about the placement and the startle scare, and Scares on Sequoia has it down pat.

We're happy to see Scares on Sequoia grow from year to year, and we see potential for it to be a really fun yard display, especially when the season get busier and people start regularly visiting. There may be nights with live actors, and the new enclosures even have some surprises for the unwary. It's fun to look at, and has some creative touches as well. It's definitely worth a look if you're out in the Orland area.